CN116348642A

CN116348642A - Clothes treating apparatus

Info

Publication number: CN116348642A
Application number: CN202180069504.7A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 上野真司; 高桥幸太郎; 矢野将; 上甲康之
Original assignee: Hitachi Global Life Solutions Inc
Current assignee: Hitachi Global Life Solutions Inc
Priority date: 2020-12-01
Filing date: 2021-09-02
Publication date: 2023-06-27
Also published as: WO2022118511A1; JP2022087500A; JP7422648B2

Abstract

The present invention provides a clothes treatment device which improves the sterilizing or disinfecting effect of bacteria and viruses attached to clothes. To this end, the laundry treatment apparatus of the present invention includes: an outer frame having an opening on a front side; a door which is mounted on the outer frame and can be opened and closed; and an ultraviolet irradiation unit which is provided in the door and irradiates ultraviolet rays to the rear side, wherein the ultraviolet irradiation unit includes a light source that generates ultraviolet rays and a protective cover that is positioned at the rear side of the light source and protects the light source, and the protective cover is made of quartz glass or ultraviolet-transmitting resin.

Description

Clothes treating apparatus

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a laundry treatment apparatus.

Background

In a laundry treatment apparatus such as a washing machine, a technique is known in which ultraviolet rays are irradiated to laundry inside to sterilize the laundry. In addition, there is a technology of providing a light source for irradiating ultraviolet rays to a door of a laundry treatment apparatus. For example, patent document 1 describes "a light source member is attached to an outer door which is one structural member connected to an outer case" (paragraph 0040 of patent document 1), "a door glass is provided to an inner door so that the state of clothing can be visually confirmed from the outside and light can pass through" (paragraph 0037 of patent document 1).

Prior art literature

Patent literature

Patent document 1: japanese patent laid-open No. 2008-29560

Disclosure of Invention

Problems to be solved by the invention

Patent document 1 does not disclose the type of door glass and the wavelength range of ultraviolet rays. However, in general glasses such as borosilicate glass, the transmittance of deep ultraviolet rays having a high sterilization effect is extremely low, and it is difficult to obtain a high sterilization effect in the technique described in patent document 1.

The invention aims to provide a clothes treatment device with improved bacteria and virus sterilizing effect.

Means for solving the problems

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an ultraviolet irradiation device comprising: an outer frame having an opening on a front side; a door which is mounted on the outer frame and can be opened and closed; and an ultraviolet irradiation unit which is provided in the door and irradiates ultraviolet rays to the rear side, wherein the ultraviolet irradiation unit includes a light source that generates ultraviolet rays and a protective cover that is positioned at the rear side of the light source and protects the light source, and the protective cover is made of quartz glass or ultraviolet-transmitting resin.

ADVANTAGEOUS EFFECTS OF INVENTION

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a laundry treatment apparatus having an improved effect of sterilizing or disinfecting bacteria and viruses attached to laundry. The problems, structures, and effects other than those described above will become apparent from the following description of the embodiments for carrying out the invention.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a front view of a laundry dryer of an embodiment.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view from A-A of fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view illustrating a state after opening a door of the laundry dryer of the embodiment.

Fig. 4 is a front view of the ultraviolet irradiation unit according to the embodiment.

Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional perspective view of B-B of fig. 4.

Fig. 6A is a front cross-sectional view showing a state in which the laundry is in a lower position.

Fig. 6B is a front cross-sectional view showing a state in which laundry is lifted by the lifter.

Fig. 6C is a front cross-sectional view showing a state immediately before the laundry starts to freely fall due to gravity.

Fig. 7 is a front cross-sectional view illustrating a trajectory of laundry when the drum makes one rotation.

Fig. 8A is a diagram illustrating a rotation direction of the drum and a trajectory of laundry.

Fig. 8B is a diagram showing a configuration in a case where one ultraviolet irradiation section is provided.

Fig. 8C is a diagram showing an arrangement in a case where there are two ultraviolet irradiation sections.

Fig. 8D is a diagram showing the arrangement in the case where the ultraviolet irradiation sections are three.

Fig. 8E is a diagram showing an arrangement in the case where the number of ultraviolet irradiation sections is four.

Fig. 8F is a diagram showing the arrangement in the case where the number of ultraviolet irradiation sections is five.

Fig. 9 is a front cross-sectional view showing an irradiation region of ultraviolet rays in the case where three ultraviolet irradiation sections are provided.

Fig. 10 is a side cross-sectional view showing an irradiation region of ultraviolet rays in the case where three ultraviolet irradiation sections are provided.

Detailed Description

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The embodiments are examples for explaining the present invention, and are omitted and simplified as appropriate for clarity of explanation. The invention can also be implemented in other various ways. The present invention is not particularly limited, and each component may be single or plural.

The positions, sizes, shapes, ranges, and the like of the respective constituent elements shown in the drawings may not be actual positions, sizes, shapes, ranges, and the like for easy understanding of the invention. Accordingly, the present invention is not necessarily limited to the positions, sizes, shapes, ranges, etc. disclosed in the drawings.

Structure of clothes dryer

First, the configuration of the laundry dryer 1 will be described with reference to fig. 1 to 3.

Fig. 1 is a front view of a laundry dryer 1 of the present embodiment, fig. 2 is a sectional view from A-A of fig. 1, and fig. 3 is a perspective view showing a state after opening a door 3 of the laundry dryer 1 of the present embodiment.

As shown in fig. 1, a door 3 that opens and closes with a hinge is attached to a front side of an outer frame 2 that is a casing of the clothes dryer 1 of the present embodiment, and an operation unit 4 that sets a drying operation or the like is provided at a lower portion.

As shown in fig. 2, a bottomed drum 5 (laundry accommodating tub) having an opening on the front side for taking out laundry and a bottom surface on the rear side is disposed inside the outer frame 2. The drum 5 constitutes a drying chamber, and is rotatable about a rotation shaft 6 by transmitting power of a driving unit via a belt. A lifter 7 extending in the axial direction (front-rear direction) is provided on the inner surface of the drum 5, and serves to lift the laundry in response to the rotation of the drum 5. The laundry lifted by the lifter 7 falls by gravity, but by imparting an action to the laundry in this way, the laundry spreads in the drum 5 and is easily dried.

Although not shown, a heater for heating the drying air and a warm air outlet are provided on the front side in the outer frame 2, and the warm air is blown from the front into the drum 5. On the other hand, a filter 8 for collecting thread ends, an exhaust port located further to the rear side of the frame 2, and a heat exchange fan 9 having a heat exchange function for cooling the drying air discharged from the exhaust port by the outside air are provided at the rear side of the frame 2. The drying air discharged from the drum 5 is dehumidified by the heat exchange fan 9 and sent to a circulation duct (not shown), and the heater located in front of the drum 5 passes through and flows into the drum 5 again from the air outlet.

As shown in fig. 3, a plurality of (three in fig. 3) ultraviolet radiation portions 10 are attached to the inner surface of the door 3 for opening and closing the opening of the drum 5. The door 3 includes a resin panel 11 forming a design surface, and a frame 12 fixed to the rear side of the panel 11 and having a plurality of (three in fig. 3) openings, and the ultraviolet radiation portion 10 is provided in the openings. Since the ultraviolet radiation portion 10 is provided in the opening of the housing 12 in this way, the ultraviolet radiation portion 10 is less likely to protrude into the drum 5, and the laundry can be prevented from being caught. Further, since the ultraviolet radiation section 10 is provided on the rear side (back surface) of the door 3, the ultraviolet radiation is radiated rearward, and therefore, even if the light source is not turned off in case the user opens the door during operation, the ultraviolet radiation can be prevented from being directly radiated to the user, and the safety can be improved.

Structure of ultraviolet ray irradiation part

Next, the structure of the ultraviolet irradiation unit 10 will be described with reference to fig. 4 and 5. Fig. 4 is a front view of the ultraviolet irradiation unit 10 according to the present embodiment, and fig. 5 is a cross-sectional perspective view of fig. 4B-B.

As shown in fig. 4, the ultraviolet irradiation section 10 includes a light source 13 that generates ultraviolet light, and a protective cover 14 that is positioned on the rear side (drum 5 side) of the light source 13 and protects the light source 13. The light source 13 is an LED or the like that irradiates ultraviolet rays having a main wavelength of 220 to 280nm, and irradiates the laundry in the drum 5 with such deep ultraviolet rays to sterilize or disinfect bacteria and viruses attached to the laundry. The protective cover 14 is a cover for preventing the light source 13 from being damaged by contact between clothing and the light source 13 and invasion of moisture or dust into the light source 13, and is attached to the housing 12 via a gasket 15 described below.

The protective cover 14 is made of a material that transmits such deep ultraviolet rays, and quartz glass or ultraviolet-transmitting resin is used as a material thereof. If the protective cover 14 is made of a general glass such as borosilicate glass, the transmittance of deep ultraviolet rays is extremely low, and thus a sufficient sterilization effect or the like cannot be obtained. Even if the protective cover 14 is made of a resin such as acrylic, the transmittance of deep ultraviolet rays is 30% or less, and thus a sufficient sterilization effect and the like cannot be obtained. However, in the present embodiment, since the protective cover 14 is formed of quartz glass or ultraviolet-transmitting resin, the transmittance is high even in the case of deep ultraviolet rays, and a decrease in the sterilization effect or the like can be suppressed.

Further, since the present embodiment is configured such that the protective cover 14 is provided only at a necessary portion behind the light source 13, it is possible to realize a low cost as compared with a case where the main component of the door 3 is made of the same material as the protective cover 14.

The ultraviolet-transmitting resin may be any resin having a transmittance of 50% or more of ultraviolet light having a dominant wavelength of 220 to 280nm, and for example, polyethylene-based resins may be considered. Such ultraviolet-transmitting resins have lower ultraviolet transmittance than silica glass, but have significantly higher transmittance than general resins such as glass and acrylic, and are advantageous in terms of cost compared to silica glass.

As shown in fig. 5, the ultraviolet irradiation unit 10 of the present embodiment further includes: a substrate 16 supporting the light source 13; a substrate case 17 that houses the substrate 16; and a pad 15 attached to the edge of the protection cover 14. In fig. 5, the panel 11 is not shown. The gasket 15 is pressed by the edge of the opening of the frame 12 and the edge of the substrate case 17 in the front-rear direction, thereby improving the water tightness of the space surrounded by the protective cover 14 and the substrate case 17 and suppressing adhesion of moisture contained in clothing or the like to the substrate 16. Further, by tightening the screw 18 that fixes the substrate case 17 to the frame 12, a force that presses the gasket 15 in the front-rear direction can be obtained.

In addition, when maintenance of the ultraviolet irradiation section 10 of the present embodiment is performed, first, the panel body 11 is detached from the housing 12. Next, the screw 18 for fixing the substrate case 17 to the housing 12 is unscrewed, and the substrate case 17 can be detached from the front side of the housing 12. Then, the substrate case 17 is detached from the housing 12, and the light source 13 and the substrate 16 in the substrate case 17 are replaced. As described above, the ultraviolet irradiation unit 10 according to the present embodiment has an advantage of high maintainability because the light source 13 and the substrate 16 can be replaced from the front even when the door 3 is closed.

Further, the frame 12 is preferably made of metal. Alternatively, the housing 12 may be made of resin, and the rear side of the housing 12 may be covered with a metal cover (not shown). There are two reasons for this. The first reason is: even if a part of the ultraviolet light irradiated from the ultraviolet irradiation unit 10 strikes the metal drum 5 and bounces back, if the metal frame 12 is present in front of the opening of the drum 5, the ultraviolet light can be reflected again into the drum 5. For the same reason, the non-patterned portion of the substrate 16 may be coated with a high reflectance coating. The second reason is: even when the laundry in the drum 5 burns due to spontaneous combustion or the like, if the metal casing 12 is provided in front of the opening of the drum 5, the burnt laundry is enclosed in the metal space formed by the drum 5 and the casing 12, and the combustion can be prevented from spreading outside the apparatus.

The size of the ultraviolet irradiation section 10, specifically, the protective cover 14 will be described.

The light source 13 determines the irradiation angle θv according to the type thereof, and if the protective cover 14 is enlarged to a region where ultraviolet rays cannot reach at all, the material cost of the protective cover 14 increases. On the other hand, if the protective cover 14 is too small, a part of the ultraviolet light emitted from the light source 13 is blocked by the housing 12. Therefore, the size (in particular, the up-down dimension and the left-right dimension) of the protective cover 14 preferably corresponds to the irradiation angle θv of the light source 13. The shape of the protective cover 14 is not limited to the square shape shown in fig. 4, and may be a circular shape.

Arrangement of ultraviolet ray irradiation section

Next, the arrangement of the ultraviolet irradiation unit 10 will be described with reference to fig. 6 to 10. Fig. 6A to 6C are front cross-sectional views showing the operation of the laundry accompanying the rotation of the drum 5, fig. 6A showing the laundry in a state of being in a lower position, fig. 6B showing the laundry in a state of being lifted up by the lifter 7, and fig. 6C showing the laundry in a state immediately before free fall due to gravity. Fig. 7 is a front cross-sectional view showing a trajectory (dotted arrow) of laundry when the drum 5 rotates once.

Since the irradiation angle θv from the light source 13 is limited, in the present embodiment, the plurality of ultraviolet irradiation units 10 are provided on the rear side of the door 3. However, since the provision of a plurality of ultraviolet radiation sections 10 causes an increase in cost, it is preferable to provide the ultraviolet radiation sections 10 at appropriate places in consideration of the sterilization effect and the like.

First, when focusing on the operation of the laundry in the drum 5, as is clear from fig. 7, the laundry is often present on the laundry lifting side as the position of the laundry. This is because not only the laundry lifted by the lifter 7 falls freely from the vicinity of the uppermost portion to be a locus passing near the rotation shaft 6, but also the laundry which is not completely lifted by the lifter 7 and rolls in the middle, and the laundry is relatively concentrated on the lifted side. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the number of ultraviolet irradiation parts 10 located on the lifting side of the laundry is made larger than that on the opposite side. The laundry lifting side is different depending on the rotation direction of the drum 5, but is a fourth quadrant and a first quadrant in a plan view with the rotation axis of the drum 5 as the center when the drum 5 is rotated counterclockwise as viewed from the front as shown in fig. 6 and 7, and is a third quadrant and a second quadrant when the drum 5 is rotated clockwise.

Fig. 8A is a diagram showing the rotation direction of the drum 5 and the trajectory of laundry (broken line arrow) when viewed from the front, and fig. 8B to 8F are diagrams showing appropriate arrangements corresponding to the number of ultraviolet irradiation units 10. First, as shown in fig. 8B, when only one ultraviolet irradiation section 10 is provided, the ultraviolet irradiation section is disposed in the vicinity of the position corresponding to the center of gravity of the laundry track, which is located in the vicinity of the origin of the fourth quadrant. As described above, the ultraviolet irradiation section 10 is disposed at a position shifted from the origin to +x with respect to the x-axis in the horizontal direction passing through the rotation center, whereby a large amount of clothes can be efficiently irradiated with ultraviolet rays. The y-axis passing through the rotation center in the vertical direction is also set to a position shifted from the origin to-y, and the shift in the y-axis direction is smaller than the shift in the x-axis direction, so that the irradiation center from the ultraviolet irradiation unit 10 can be located near the center of gravity of the laundry track.

Next, as shown in fig. 8C, when two ultraviolet irradiation units 10 are provided, the first ultraviolet irradiation unit is arranged in the fourth quadrant, and the second ultraviolet irradiation unit is arranged in the first quadrant. Specifically, the first ultraviolet irradiation unit is set to a position shifted from the origin by +x and-y, and the second ultraviolet irradiation unit is set to a position shifted from the origin by +x and-y. The first ultraviolet irradiation unit is smaller in the x-axis direction than the second ultraviolet irradiation unit. With such a configuration, ultraviolet rays are irradiated to the laundry moving in the drum 5 without omission.

Also, in the case where three ultraviolet irradiation sections 10 are provided in fig. 8D, in the case where four ultraviolet irradiation sections 10 are provided in fig. 8E, and in the case where five ultraviolet irradiation sections 10 are provided in fig. 8F, a preferable configuration is shown. In this way, if the number of ultraviolet irradiation units 10 is increased, the cost is also increased, but the effect of sterilization or the like by ultraviolet rays is increased.

Fig. 9 is a front cross-sectional view showing an irradiation region of ultraviolet rays in the case where three ultraviolet irradiation units 10 are provided, and fig. 10 is a side cross-sectional view showing an irradiation region of ultraviolet rays in the case where three ultraviolet irradiation units 10 are provided. As shown in fig. 9, it is clear that the ultraviolet rays emitted from the ultraviolet irradiation units 10 spread rearward at a predetermined irradiation angle θv, and can cover substantially the entire lifted side of the clothing.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the light source 13 provided in the door 3 can realize the low-cost laundry dryer 1, and the laundry dryer 1 can efficiently irradiate the laundry in the drum 5 while suppressing damage caused by dew condensation, contact with the laundry, and the like. In the laundry dryer 1 of the present embodiment, even for laundry that cannot be easily washed, sterilization can be performed without using water or detergent.

The above-described embodiments are described in detail for the purpose of easily understanding the present invention, and are not limited to the configuration in which all the described structures are necessarily provided. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the laundry dryer is described as an example, but the present invention can be applied to a laundry storage device such as a closet, in addition to a washing dryer and a washing machine. Further, a part of the structure of the embodiment may be replaced with another structure, and another structure may be added to the structure of the embodiment. In addition, other structures may be added, deleted, or replaced in part of each structure.

Description of symbols

1-clothes dryer, 2-outer frame, 3-door, 4-operation part, 5-roller, 6-rotation axis, 7-lifter, 8-filter, 9-heat exchange fan, 10-ultraviolet irradiation part, 11-panel body, 12-frame body, 13-light source, 14-protection cover, 15-liner, 16-substrate, 17-substrate shell, 18: a screw.

Claims

1. A clothes treatment device is provided with:

an outer frame having an opening on a front side;

a door which is mounted on the outer frame and can be opened and closed; and

an ultraviolet irradiation part provided on the door and irradiating the rear side with ultraviolet rays,

the laundry treating apparatus as described above is characterized in that,

the ultraviolet irradiation part comprises a light source for generating ultraviolet rays and a protective cover which is positioned at the rear side of the light source and is used for protecting the light source,

the protective cover is made of quartz glass or ultraviolet-transmitting resin.

2. The laundry treatment apparatus according to claim 1, wherein,

the main wavelength of the ultraviolet light generated from the light source is 220-280 nm.

3. The laundry treatment apparatus according to claim 1, wherein,

the door comprises a resin panel body for forming an appearance design surface and a frame body fixed at the rear side of the panel body and provided with an opening for the ultraviolet irradiation part,

at least a part of the frame is made of metal.

4. The laundry treatment apparatus according to claim 1, wherein,

the door comprises a resin panel body for forming an appearance design surface and a frame body mounted on the rear side of the panel body and having an opening for the ultraviolet irradiation part,

the ultraviolet irradiation part further comprises a substrate for supporting the light source, a substrate housing for accommodating the substrate, and a gasket mounted on the edge of the protective cover,

the gasket is pressed from the front and rear direction by the edge of the opening of the frame and the edge of the substrate case.

5. The laundry treatment apparatus according to claim 4, wherein,

the substrate housing is fixed to the frame body from the front side by screws,

when the screw is screwed, the gasket is pressed, the space surrounded by the protection cover and the substrate housing is closed,

when the screw is unscrewed, the substrate housing can be detached from the front side of the frame.

6. A clothes treatment device is provided with:

an outer frame;

a laundry accommodating groove rotatably disposed in the outer frame and having an opening for taking out and putting in laundry;

a door mounted to the outer frame and capable of opening and closing the opening; and

an ultraviolet irradiation part provided on the door for irradiating ultraviolet rays into the clothes receiving tank,

the laundry treating apparatus as described above is characterized in that,

a plurality of ultraviolet irradiation parts are arranged at the rear side of the door,

the number of the ultraviolet irradiation parts on the lifting side of the clothes is larger than that on the opposite side.